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1959
1959 Ralph Peyton and Jim Griffin acquire the Crater Lake Lodge Company from the Smiths. Negotiations begin with the new concessionaires for the NPS to buy the Lodge for $285,000 and convert the building into a visitor center. The new concessionaires were to take the purchase price and construct a new motel accommodating 250 people adjacent to the cafeteria building. A new access road was planned from the south that would diverge from the existing road below Rim Campground and allow visitors to avoid the congested plaza area as they made their way to the new visitor center.
May 31 1959 Rescue of a dog that had fallen into the Annie Creek Canyon.
June 10 1959 Lloyd Smith begins work as a seasonal maintenance laborer and construction worker. Lloyd transfers to the ranger division, and law enforcement in 1965. Smith eventually works 22 summers for the Park.
While Lloyd and his brother, Larry, were sitting at their drafting tables in an engineering drawing class at Southern Oregon College one of their friends, Henry Scott, announces that Harry Smith from the Crater Lake Company is holding job interviews for summer positions at Crater Lake Lodge. We had never heard that there were jobs available at Crater Lake. Four of us, including Charlie Swingle, went to be interviewed. Harry seemed especially interested in the fact that Lloyd and Larry’s father worked for Tucker SnoCat. But none of us were offered jobs. How different our lives would have been had we been offered Lodge Jobs.
But Henry was not to be deterred. He checked further and found out that the Park Service had maintenance type jobs available. Henry applied for a truck driving position. Both he and Charlie were offered jobs.
When Henry told the personnel officer, Marion Anderson, that Charlie had changed his mind and was going to stay in the valley and work as a fork-lift driver for SOS Fruit Packing, Marion did the unbelievable. “Do you know of anyone else that would like to have the job?” he asked. Henry offered Lloyd’s name. Even though Lloyd had not applied Marion called him. But unfortunately Lloyd was out in the barn milking two cows. Marion called several times before catching Lloyd in the garage washing the milker. Lloyd was offered and he accepted the job over the phone! Lloyd then called his father at Tucker Snocat to tell him that he was packing to go to work at Crater Lake the next day. He worked the next four summers on Maintenance.
Larry tried in 1960, but was not accepted, but was hired in 1961 where he worked for two summers in Maintenance and then switched over to the Ranger division in 1964.
Lloyd was offered a job as a trail boss in 1964 at Rocky Mountain National Park. In 1965 Lloyd returned to Crater Lake in the Ranger division.
Lloyd and Larry owe their NPS careers to Mr. Marion Anderson – park personnel director.
Summer 1959 Both the North Junction stone Entrance Station and stone ranger cabin are torn down. The cabin was located on the Rim, at the junction of Rim Drive and the North Road. The entrance station was located at the road “y”. Lloyd Smith was on the demolition crew.
Annie Spring is encased with stone and cement to obtain safe drinking water for Mazama Campground and the ranger cabin. Work contracted out to Bob Deller Construction of Eugene. Deller also had the contract for the first two residences build in 1958 and 1959 in Steel Circle. Howard Engebretsen is the lead builder.
The “Fisher”, a former tuna bait boat, is lowered over the Crater wall. The excursion boat is named for Don Fisher, the first superintendent of Lava Beds National Monument.
R.E. Williams and party, using sonar, map the Lake’s bottom. The depth of the Lake is officially changed from 1996 feet to 1932 feet. The 64 foot difference between the new reading and the 1886 reading is attributed to the Lake’s thermoclines (temperature caused currents), causing a large bow in the original 1886 sounding wire.
Summers 1959-1960 Felicia Wirtz, Ph.D, becomes the second lady ranger at Crater Lake. Felicia’s husband John, Ph.D., worked at the Park during the summers of 1955 and 1957.
Fall 1959 Old Lake Trail (Crater Wall Trail) in front of the cafeteria is closed and abandoned.
October 3 1959 Otto M. Brown enters on duty as Superintendent.
October 4 1959 Rescue of young lady off of Hillman Peak.
October 13 1959 Rescue of young boy near Old Lake Trail.
December 10 1959 The latest date on record of measurable snow beginning to fall.
Season 1959 Visitation: 340,989
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